paris, grand palais, 15 – 22

BIENNALE DES ANTIQUAIRES
PARIS, GRAND PALAIS, 15 – 22 SEPTEMBRE 2010
SECTION TREMPLIN POUR LA BIENNALE
Manuel Martinez Hugué also called Manolo (1872 - 1945)
Woman Drying Herself, 1923
Terra cotta proof
Edition of 15 copies
Not signed
Label from the Louise Leiris Gallery
H. 28.5; W. 13.5; D. 7 cm
GALERIE MALAQUAIS
19, quai Malaquais 75006 Paris
www.galerie-malaquais.com
Tél. : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 75
Fax : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 76
jb.auffret@galerie-malaquais.com
Provenance :
Paris, Louise Leiris gallery
Sweden, private collection
Bibliographie :
Manuel Martinez Hugué, dit Manolo, Sculptures, gouaches, dessins, Paris, galerie Louise Leiris, 17 mai – 17
juin 1961, n°63, repr.
Montserrat Blanch, Manolo, Sculptures, Peintures, Dessins, Editions Cercle d’Art, Paris, 1974, n°459, p. 244,
repr.
Manolo Hugué Escultura, Pintura y Dijubo, Madrid, Centro Cultural del Conde Duque, janvier – février 1997,
n°18, p. 34, repr.
The Woman Drying Herself can be compared to another of Manolo’s sculptures, titled Torso,
which he made either right before or right after the Woman Drying Herself. Manolo used a
marcottage1 technique to move from one model to the other. In 1923, he made an edition of
15 terra cotta proofs of both the Woman Drying Herself and Torso.
Manolo’s mastery of his art truly flowered during this time in which he created various
figures in clay that forcefully affirmed his extremely individual style. He experimented with
extended compositions, taking parts of the human body almost to the point of synthetic
geometry. The rhythm of their movement verges on exaggeration but nonetheless retains its
spontaneous and truthful character. One only has to compare Woman Drying Herself with
Seated Torso (1923, terra cotta) to sense the unity of Manolo’s formal interests. He continued
these in Seated Woman (1929-1930, terra cotta) and Toreodor with a Muleta (bronze proof,
1939-1940).
Explanation of the choice for the Tremplin:
Of all the sculpture from the first half of the 20th century, Manolo’s are some of the most
interesting. His work opened up a new stylistic avenue between the traditional modeling of
Rodin, Maillol, Despiau, and Malfray and the emerging cubist modernity embodied by
Laurens, Curatella Manès, and Picasso.
In addition, Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, by defending Manolo and Henri Laurens, gave the terra
cotta edition its stamp of legitimacy.
MANUEL MARTINEZ HUGUE ALSO CALLED MANOLO (1872-1945)
Manuel Martinez Hugué, also called Manolo, was born in 1872 in Barcelona and in 1900
moved to Paris where he met Picasso. He stayed in the French capital ten years in the course
of which he led the life of a miserable vagrant. In these difficult conditions, he wasn’t able to
work but he nevertheless made many brilliant acquaintances -Apollinaire, Max Jacob, LéonPaul Fargue- and visited the Louvre, Cluny, Guimet and Carnavalet Museums. When D.-H;
Kahnweiler, a merchant, contracted him, he enjoyed the freedom of working far from Paris in
Céret, a small village in French Catalonia. He stayed there from 1910 to 1928. Then, as he
suffered from polyarthritis, he moved back to Spain, in Caldas de Montbuy (in the Barcelona
region), where he stayed to his death on 17 November 1945.
1
Marcottage is a process in which a sculptor creates a new work by reusing either part or all of one or more of
his earlier sculptures. The artist breaks up his own works and reintroduces them in the new work. (Ministry of
Culture and Communication, General inventory of monuments and artistic wealth of France, Sculpture:
Principles of scientific analysis, method, and vocabulary. Paris, National Printers, 1978).
GALERIE MALAQUAIS
19, quai Malaquais 75006 Paris
www.galerie-malaquais.com
Tél. : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 75
Fax : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 76
jb.auffret@galerie-malaquais.com
His style echoes the experiences of his Parisian years, during which he was drawn more to the
Egyptian, archaic Greek, Romanesque and Gothic arts, than to the avant-garde movements
such as cubism. From the different styles that inspired him, he retained a constant concern for
rational simplification, although, contrary to cubist artists, he always remained within the
bounds of figuration. His work also bears the mark of the identity of the Mediterranean,
fashioned by the archaic and classic antique arts that flourished on its shores and that
Catalonian artists, friends of Manolo, wished to revive in their “noucentist” movement.
Manolo focused on popular and realistic themes such as toreros, women with their fans,
peasants, country scenes… He also made many portraits. He worked chiefly on small scale
designs, in clay or stone. His oeuvre resembles his friend Maillol’s, especially when he
represents the Mediterranean woman: sturdy, massive, and nevertheless harmonious and
motherly.
He quickly gained recognition, thanks to Kahnweiler’s sponsoring and to the timeless quality
of his work. In 1913, his work was on display at the Armory Show in New York and in
Kahnweiler’s exhibitions in Germany and in Paris. He then regularly participated in
exhibitions in the United States, in Germany, Spain and France. Near the end of his life, his
country paid tribute to his oeuvre by appointing him member of the Real Academia de Bellas
Artes de San Jorge; in 1932, he was celebrated in France as well in an exhibition held at the
Grand Palais Museum.
“This oeuvre, which is not large in number, is the work of a sculptor as much of a
psychologist; it is the work of a deeply insightful artist who knows man and all men.” (M.
Lafargue, in Manolo by P. Pia, coll. Nrf, Gallimard, Paris, 1930, p.13)
GALERIE MALAQUAIS
Based at the quai Malaquais since Spring 2004, Galerie Malaquais' unique aim is to help us
rediscover Independent sculpture. Inspired by Bourdelle, Maillol and Rodin, this school of
sculpture favours human representation and covers four generations of artists united in their
values. Its greatest representatives are Charles Despiau, Marcel Gimond, Jane Poupelet,
Charles Malfray, together with Charles Auffret, Jean Carton and Léon Indenbaum.
Jean-Baptiste Auffret, the gallery's director and son of sculptors Charles Auffret and
Arlette Ginioux, has known many of these Independent sculptors and explains their sensitive,
poetic approach with passion. As a set designer he has collaborated closely with Richard
Peduzzi on designs for the presentation of numerous exhibitions and spent ten years in the
theatre working with him. Having a feel for the works and how they should be displayed, he
decided to introduce a space dedicated to figurative sculpture in the tradition of Rodin.
Galerie Malaquais presents examples of all their works: sculptures, drawings, paintings and
engravings, and aims to produce a publication to accompany each exhibition. The gallery
focuses on works that are pleasing to the eye, the intelligence and our hearts, and aims to
educate the eye “to see what we see” (Charles Peguy). It therefore offers much that is outside
what is fashionable, presents unexpected themes such as the Sculpted Portrait or Sculptors’
Drawings, so providing new perspectives on collections. The gallery demonstrates a real
desire to work with collectors. It also regularly promotes its artists, both on the gallery walls
and at international art fairs: Salon du Collectionneur in Paris (2005, 2007), Antiques and
Fine Arts Fair of Belgium in Brussels (2006, 2007 and 2008), and at the Villa Medici in
Rome, with major works on loan for the Charles Auffret exhibition (2007).
GALERIE MALAQUAIS
19, quai Malaquais 75006 Paris
www.galerie-malaquais.com
Tél. : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 75
Fax : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 76
jb.auffret@galerie-malaquais.com
EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
Galerie Malaquais presents Independent figurative sculpture of the 20th Century: Rodin,
Maillol, Bourdelle, Claudel, Despiau, Wlérick, Malfray, Gimond, Schnegg, Drivier,
Poupelet, Dejean, Damboise, Carton, Goldberg, Babin, Auffret … This gallery is uniquely
special, and works in a highly distinctive way, undertaking much research, producing
publications and arranging exchanges with collectors, universities and curators. Since it
opened its doors in May 2004, it has taken in many art fairs and arranged catalogued
exhibitions:
-
Les Architectes du Sensible (Architects of the Perceptible) (14 May – 31 July 2004)
The gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Les Architectes du Sensible (Architects of the
Perceptible), presented an overview of Independent European sculpture, exhibiting
around forty selected works.
Exhibition catalogue: Les Architectes du Sensible, Panorama de la sculpture
indépendante au XXe siècle, in French. 26 pages. Out of print.
-
Le Portrait sculpté (The Sculpted Portrait) (5 November - 17 December
2004)
The ability to capture a human expression and the ephemeral nature of a human being,
at the same time immortalising it in an enduring, concise form: that is the power of
sculpture. The Portrait sculpté (The Sculpted Portrait) exhibition transfixes the viewer
with its curves and facial lines. The faces, some portraits of friends, others
commissioned works or tributes, set in bronze or terracotta, pulse with life. They
astonish with their eternal presence, like a truth perceived by the senses. Exhibition
catalogue: Le portrait sculpté, in French, 56 pages.
-
Dessins de sculpteurs (Sculptors’ Drawings) (4 November – 24 December
2005)
The focus on light, volume analysis, architecture and form is just as relevant to any
artist who draws or sketches as to the sculptor. The Dessins de sculpteurs (Sculptors’
Drawings) exhibition highlights this close relationship between these two artistic
techniques.
Exhibition catalogue: Dessins de sculpteurs, in French, 78 pages. Out of print.
-
Charles Malfray 1887-1940 (5 April – 30 June 2007)
For its first "solo" sculpture exhibition, the gallery chose Charles Malfray (18871940), the master of Independent sculpture, a movement in which he occupies a
pivotal role.
Exhibition catalogue: Charles Malfray (1887-1940), in French / English, 212 pages.
‐
Charles Auffret (9 May – 15 July 2007) at the Villa Medici in Rome.
Texts by Yves Bonnefoy and Richard Peduzzi.
Exhibition catalogue: Charles Auffret, in French / Italian, 120 pages.
‐
Dessins de sculpteurs II (Sculptors’ Drawings II) (28 March – 18 April 2008)
Featuring around twenty artists and forty drawings, the exhibition presents drawings
from 1850 up to the present day. The work of Dalou represents the second half of the
19th Century. And for the early 20th Century, drawings by masters such as Bourdelle,
Despiau and Wlérick are displayed alongside those of Malfray, Berthe Martinie and
GALERIE MALAQUAIS
19, quai Malaquais 75006 Paris
www.galerie-malaquais.com
Tél. : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 75
Fax : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 76
jb.auffret@galerie-malaquais.com
members of the Bande à Schnegg such as Cavaillon and Jane Poupelet. The gallery is
showing two outstanding drawings: the first, a watercolour by the German sculptor
and painter Bernard Hoetger (1874-1949), is an allegorical scene depicting numerous
characters. Dated at around 1905, it is emotive in its freshness and poetry. The second,
a pencil drawing by Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920), has not previously been shown
in the art market. It is a portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne, executed in 1919 and the pencil
strokes fully express the gentleness and sensitivity of the artist as he gazed at his
companion. Then, drawings by Auffret, Babin, Carton, Damboise and Gimond
represent the years 1920 to 1960.
Exhibition catalogue: Dessins de sculpteurs II, in French, 70 pages.
GALERIE MALAQUAIS
19, quai Malaquais 75006 Paris
www.galerie-malaquais.com
Tél. : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 75
Fax : + 33 (0)1 42 86 04 76
jb.auffret@galerie-malaquais.com